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Help! ONESTOP NETWORK has jacked my domain!

I'm in a bit of a quandary over my domain (http://mattbarton.net), and I'm hoping some of the clever folks here will be able to help me out. In a nutshell, here's what happened. During the first week of the semester, the commercial (managed) server I had hosting my mattbarton.net (official classroom site) went on the blink, crashing several times and staying down all during some of my first classes (a PR disaster). I tried to be patient, but when it happened the next day, and after they didn't respond to my emails or phone calls asking what was going on, I decided to switch to site5. I managed to copy my website and database over to the new site, but there's one last hitch--I need to get mattbarton.net pointing to this new server.

Unfortunately, the domain registry I've been using for years, ONESTOP NETWORK, has apparently become one of the worst on the planet. I went to their website, logged in, and attempted to manually change the DNS to the new ones, but guess what--nothing happened. I figured it might take awhile (this was on Saturday), so I waited until Monday afternoon. Nothing (the website says it will take up to 36 hours for the switch to take effect.) Well, now it's Thursday, and the domain is STILL pointing to the old site.

I've submitted two trouble tickets to One Stop that were unanswered. I also tried the "live assistance" chat option and tried to communicate the problem, but the, uh...person on the other end didn't seem to understand what a DNS was, much less how to fix it, and kept putting me on hold (he actually disconnected me at one point). Then he said he'd "send me the details in an email," whatever that means. Needless to say, I never got an email.

So, I tried calling (long distance mind you). After being put on hold and promised that I was the "next caller in line" for about 10 minutes, I was connected directly to voice mail. I told them my problem, but let's just say I have very little hope left that anybody at ONESTOP is going to help me (even assuming that there is someone there who can!)

So, I called godaddy.com and asked if there was some way they could help me out. They said the only way would be if I could somehow "unlock" the domain from ONESTOP...Since I don't see that happening (it's not as if they'd actually answer an email), I'm left with very few options here.

I actually paid for two more years of domain registration through ONESTOP. I realize I could just abandon mattbarton.net, but I'm currently using a javascript to forward visitors to the new site. This is a clumsy solution that doesn't work well at all. Plus, it results in horrible URLs for the site.

Does anyone have any ideas? Should I just keep badgering ONESTOP until they do something, or do I have other options? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

Matt,
Try calling ONESTOP's sales line, and asking to register a new domain and get them all pointed to one location . . .or whatever, but tell them you don't want ot do that till you get the current one properly forwarded. Sales people tend to have the most power.

When you register you name with a company that has a convenience store type name, what do you expect???

Sorry. Maybe it's time to make up a good story: "I've sold the domain, and the new owners says if I don't transfer it in the next few days, they will sue both me and Onestop. So can you either help me or give me the name of your attorney so they know where to forward the documents? "

:-;)

Otherwise, you might see if ICANN has a complaint center. If so, I'd go submit one, even though it's probably a lengthy resolution process.

Matt, if they made the change a few days ago, doesn't it take a while for the DNS change to propogate? I'm just trying to think in terms of the best possible outcome here. Sounds pretty bad, though. You've been pretty patient with them so far, considering the amount of grief they've given you.

Why don't you give them your bank account number so they can provide you a refund since you won't be using their services any longer? For extra incentive, send along your SS# and driver's license number. That should be all the information they need, but just to be safe, be sure to send your birthdate and mother's maiden-name. If all else fails, blog/wiki everywhere you can that they stink!

No worries, Bradley. I went ahead and sent them all this information already. Actually, I was smart this time--I used your information instead of mine. Just to be on the SAFE side. You never know what kind of identity-thieving swindlers are in cyberspace. I don't even let them know I'm an actual human. Safety in bots. Oh, BTW...

It is locked, but Net Sol might work with the admin owners email, or contact info, which seems to be a tampabay roadrunner account.

The IP of the DNS servers and site itself belong to

OrgName: Everyones Internet OrgID: EVRYAddress: 390 BenmarAddress: Suite 200City: HoustonStateProv: TXPostalCode: 77060Country: USRTechHandle: RW172-ARINRTechName: Williams, Randy RTechPhone: +1-713-579-2850RTechEmail: *****@ev1.net This is who Onestop is getting their IPs for hosting through, (or a wholesaler above onestop, its a messed up business) so they might be able to help with their own unresponsive customers.And this you probably have, but its the owners information for the domain onestop.netAdministrative Contact: Hostmaster, OneStop domainmaster@onestop.net 10401-106 Venice Blvd. #245 Los Angeles, CA 90034 US +1-877-701-7085 Fax: +1-866-663-4678 Hope some of this helps, seen it a few times and its never fun : ( Donovon D

Well, I've been on the phone all morning with Network Solutions (the parent company) trying to get this straightened out. The situation is so confusing because ONESTOP never updated my registrant information, so it was still pointing to a very obsolete email and physical address (where I first signed up for the "service"). So, Network Solutions is having a time verifying I am who I say I am. And, of course, it doesn't do any good to try to update my registrant information on the OneStop page, because those controls apparently do nothing...!

Oh, and, yes, I tried calling EVERY number available on the OneStop Solutions site, including sales. In each case, they kept me on hold for about five minutes and then patched me through to voice mail. As far as I can see, OneStop Solutions is totally defunct (though they interestingly still accept payments to renew domains...)

As I understand, here's what's going to happen next--Network Solutions has sent me a page to sign and fax back. They'll take 24 hours or so so put me into the system, and it'll take 3-4 days for the transfer to take place. Hopefully, the DNS will be changed at this time as well.

I just hope that any other sucker looking for a domain register will see this thread in Google and check it out before making that decision. Then again, I'm not sure if it's even possible to setup a new account...